


Scorched Chapter 2 : Mob Mentality

by RockingSpaceDragon



Series: The Scorched Series. [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29023143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockingSpaceDragon/pseuds/RockingSpaceDragon
Summary: When Ranboo begins to become overwhelmed by the voices in his head and the recent events surrounding them, help comes from an unexpected source - the Piglin King of PvP. What starts out as a messy attempt at comforting him soon turns into the two of them expressing some long-held truths about themselves, and helping each other in the process.
Relationships: Ranboo & Philza, Ranboo & Technoblade, philza & technoblade
Series: The Scorched Series. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129175
Comments: 3
Kudos: 216





	Scorched Chapter 2 : Mob Mentality

A man stands, mug of warm cocoa in his hands as he looks out the window in quiet contemplation; through the glass, snow falls and adds to the already serene landscape, a blanket of white that coats the hills and valleys of the place they called home. The 'they' in question broke the serenity moments later; a towering porcine figure opening one of the heavy wooden doors of their home with a creak, shaking off the snow from their crown-adorned head and off the deep red cloak that covered their body. Beneath it shone a set of deep, purple-black armour, shining faintly from the various magical effects on it.

Once he's satisfied that the snow is mostly gone and the warmth begins to reach his bones, he groans and rolls his shoulders - taking a moment to put away a few items while calling out a casual "Hey Phil." As he passes. Philza, for his part, hums a simple "Mmm." Of affirmation and continues his watching. It's only when he's done putting a handful of items away in the chests at the back of the room that Techno finally acknowledges the absence of conversation, turning around and resting his hands on the chest behind him as he raises an eyebrow quizzically "Hey, Phil. What're you looking at?" 

It takes a moment for Philza to respond, sipping from his mug before blinking like he's snapping out of a trance - attention turning towards Techno and gesturing for him to come over with his head "It's Ranboo. He's, uh...Been kinda bizarre, lately. Moving blocks around, disappearing into that basement of his, y'know, stuff like that." He takes another sip of his cocoa before glancing between the pig standing beside him and the figure who was sitting on the steps outside his shack. After a moment's pause, he smiles; "You should go talk to him."

Techno's response is immediate - confusion and reluctance written across his face as he turns his attention back to Phil "Wh-me? I dunno if you're aware Phil, but I'm kinda bad with kids AND endermen. What- what makes you think I'd be of any help to him?" The man chuckles, shrugging for a moment as he adjusts the grip he's got on the mug in his hands "I dunno, but you've certainly got a soft spot for this one. Don't think I haven't seen you walking around with that Axe he gave you." 

"Phil. Phil it's purely practical - it's a good axe, Phil! I needed an axe after they took my axe! What am I supposed to do, just not use the axe?" There's no response but another quite sip as the smile on the man's face gets wider, followed by a knowing "Mmmhmm." As he continues watching.

"Phil-"

"Just go check on the kid before he freezes to death out there." He chuckles again, taking another sip and letting out a soft, smug sigh as the pigman rolls his eyes, opening the door and pushing out into the light snowfall. Heavy footsteps crunch through the snow as Technoblade heads through the snow outside, eyes rolling as the door closes behind him – though his expression shifts a moment later as he sees the half-enderman, sitting just outside of his house on the small dirt bank besides his farm. As he approaches, his view on the figure improves; he’s got his chin resting in his hands, eyes gazing out across the snowfield in front of him, seemingly so entranced that he doesn’t even notice the piglin approaching. It takes him clearing his throat for Ranboo to finally snap out of his trance and sit up, blinking a few times and looking up towards Techno “Oh, hello Techno! I didn’t see you there, is everything alright?”

Techno takes a moment, rubbing at the back of his head and eventually sitting down in the snow beside Ranboo, looking out into the snow to avoid meeting his eyes – though making note of the fact that Ranboo seems to scoot up a little to give him space as he sits. “Uh…Well, Phil thought you were being…I mean, he figured you might be dealing with something, so I, in my infinite kindness, decided to come out and, uh…y’know. See if you were okay.”  
That draws a chuckle from the hybrid, who takes a moment to return his gaze out to the snow as well before speaking “Uh…I mean, kinda? Like, physically, I’m fine, but…” he pauses, going quiet briefly, only to break it by continuing “I’ve…been hearing voices? Like I always heard voices, but recently I’ve been hearing a new one that…sounds kinda- well, not kinda, exactly like Dream, and it’s been telling me that I’ve been doing things I don’t remember, bad things and- and like, I black out sometimes and apparently I do things while I’m blacked out but finding out that I do those things only stresses me out more which makes me black out more and then when I wake up I don’t remember doing any of those things until the voice comes back again and then I get stressed again and- and I don’t know what to do about it or if I can even trust myself and-“

It all came out like a flood – everything that he’d been dealing with for the past fortnight, tumbling from his mouth, word after word – he was only aware that he was crying from the twinges of pain that he felt every time his tears ran down his cheeks and dripped onto the snow beneath him, eating away at the snowbank beneath him. What stops the tears from tumbling down his face is unexpected, to say the least, as he feels something being draped over his shoulders and reaching back, he finds the deep crimson of Techno’s cape, hands closing across the white trim. Before he can speak, he’s interrupted by the Piglin himself, gaze very deliberately averted “If you start crying while it’s this cold out, you’ll only get colder. This way, even if you’re crying, you can stay warm. It’s purely practicality – besides, I don’t need it anyway.” He chuckles, but even Ranboo can see the slight shiver that runs through him as a cold breeze blows past them. 

“I, uh- thanks…Techno. Sorry, I didn’t mean to kinda go on there, I guess I had a lot more on my mind than I thought! I should…really get out of this cold though, before-“ 

“I know how you feel.”

“…What?”

For the first time since sitting down, Techno turns to face the Hybrid sitting beside him – and for what’s probably the first time, Ranboo can see exhaustion behind Techno’s eyes. Techno, who he’s only ever seen at his pinnacle, suddenly seems…tired. The kind of deep, familiar exhaustion that comes from years of low sleep, from experience. The kind of exhaustion that can’t be faked.  
“I don’t imagine you know when your voices started. I mean, you don’t remember much, so it’d be kinda weird if…yeah. I…I’ve always had voices, myself. They’ve been in my head ever since I can remember.” 

At that, Techno takes a moment, looking down at the ground beneath his feet, eyes focused on the snow that’s been building between his boots

“At first, there weren’t many of them – they kinda just hung around, and they’d give suggestions and the like…but as I learned to survive, learned to fight, more of them showed up. They’d laugh at my failures, revel in my victories…for a time, I began to think of them as my friends – no matter what happened, or how rough things got, they’d always be there for me, always be there to keep me strong.” Techno pauses, lifting up a boot and crushing the mound underneath “I was wrong. What first seemed like a group who wanted nothing more than to support me, soon became demanding. The fights weren’t enough, the competitions, never enough. I had to be better, be stronger, be more for them – that’s when the chant really began to twist. At first, y’know, it’d started as a suggestion – ‘Technoblade never dies!’ like the voices were beginning to realise that it’d been a while since I last felt the sting of death. From there, it became this kind of…rallying cry. They’d call it out, ‘TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES!’ and I revelled in it! I loved the chanting, I took it in stride – I became undefeatable, this warrior of legend who never fell. Competitions, I sure lost from time to time, but…on the field of battle? I was Unmatched.” 

Ranboo could see Techno tense up like a coiled spring, as if ready to jump into a fighting stance at any point. By now, he’s got his hands balled into fists, continuing as if Ranboo isn’t even there “But that’s when it began to twist. I still remember it, Ranboo.” The name is all the enderman gets before Techno stands up abruptly, drawing his blade from his sheath and holding it straight out, unwavering, in one swift, practiced movement. He holds his stance for a moment before beginning to walk slowly forwards, blade twirling in his hand “I was low. The stakes were high. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears…but more than that, I could hear the voices. I knew that any movement could have meant my death, but they were…there. It wasn’t a chant of support any more, Ranboo, it was a command. ‘TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES’ they repeated, over and over and over-“ he whips the blade around, gripping the handle and pointing it towards the Half-Enderman sitting beside him, who’s hands instinctively go up to protect himself. That seems to snap the piglin out of his memories, lowering the blade and taking a seat back down beside him “Do you know what it’s like, Ranboo? To have thousands and thousands of voices telling you that you’re not allowed to die?” His eyes turn towards the blade in his hands, looking at his reflection in the polished netherite and staring down at it quietly “Sometimes…I wonder what’ll happen if I do die. I’ve done everything I can to keep the voices at bay, but…what happens when ‘Technoblade never dies’ stops being true? What will the voices say then?”

The silence that washes over the two of them is palpable, a deep, intense silence that is snapped by Techno sitting up suddenly and turning to look at the Enderman once more “Oh, yeah, I was supposed to be making you feel better! Uhhh…You shouldn’t worry about that voice because…Dream is homeless and any voice that has his…voice is probably dumb and homeless as well? Because…uhhh…-“

“Techno, you’re…more than the voices in your head.”

That seems to shock the Piglin. He blinks for a moment, looking up from the blade in his hands, turning to face Ranboo before he continues, shrinking back at the eye contact that Techno quickly breaks “What I mean is…You’re…you. Those voices say and do plenty, sure, but…you’re still Technoblade, right? And…I’m still Ranboo.” At that, he seems to reach some measure of understanding, turning and looking back out into the snow “And no matter what the voices say, or what they say we do, or what they make us think, we’re…still us, right?” 

“…Yeah. And if one of those voices happens to sound like Dream? Well you can tell it that it’s not welcome in your head – he may be homeless, but this isn’t any place to take residence!” He laughs, hearty and full, ruffling Ranboo’s hair – who smiles happily at the gesture, before they both realise what’s just happened, both quickly averting their gazes. Techno can’t help but smile though, even as he’s looking away…and meeting eyes with the shit-eating grin plastered across the face of the man watching from the windows of his house. He can feel his face heating up at the sight, standing up abruptly and clearing his throat

“Well uh, I hope that helped, you’re more than your voices and everything, dream sucks, etcetera etcetera.” He sheaths the sword again, looking out across the snowfield “I uh…Hope that helped. Don’t expect me to come out here any time you hear a voice in your head though!” He smiles, turning to walk back towards the house “You’re strong enough to handle those on your own, after all. You wouldn’t be allowed to be in the presence of the GREAT TECHNOBLADE otherwise!” He laughs, drawing his blade before another chill blows through and he shivers from head to toe, quickly dashing back inside.

That night, the Hybrid sleeps beneath a deep, crimson coat, and for once, his head is quiet – that familiar, ever-present voice warded, at least for now. When he awakens, there’s a mug of warm, gently steaming cocoa and a pair of green and white earmuffs sitting beside his bed, along with a note.  
“I may not be as familiar with the voices as the two of you, but I can guarantee that it’ll be a lot harder to listen to them if you’ve got something warm to cover your ears. Just remember, if you ever need to listen to the voices that actually matter, the ones who actually do want what’s best for you, we’ll be here.

-P.”  
That morning, a certain Hybrid sits on his makeshift porch, cloak covering his shoulders and back, with a pair of earmuffs covering his head and a mug of warm cocoa in his hands, and thinks, just for a moment, that everything might actually turn out okay.


End file.
